Horse races are one of the oldest sports on record and have evolved from primitive contests of speed or stamina between two horses into a huge public-entertainment business with enormous sums of money at stake. The essential feature of a horse race remains the same, however: human riders perched on the backs of powerful, spirited animals compel them with their whip to sprint to the finish line at breakneck speeds in close quarters. In nature, horses understand self-preservation and if injured, they stop to heal or rest before continuing the race. In the artificial herds of the racetrack, they don’t get the chance. The result is broken necks, severed spines and legs where the skin is the only thing holding the limbs together.
Dead horse racing is a cruel and unnecessary form of entertainment that can’t continue to exist without addressing the industry’s fundamentally flawed business model with animal welfare as its top priority. Yet many racing aficionados ignore the concerns of animal rights activists and the general public, instead blowing off criticism and ignoring or failing to address the numerous ways that horses are mistreated on racetracks.
Betting on a horse race is an exciting activity and there are several different betting types. The most common is a bet to win. The winnings of a bet to win are paid out to the winner, minus a track percentage fee (take out). A second popular bet type is a place bet. The winnings of a bet on a place are paid out to the runners-up, plus a fraction of the winnings of a bet to win. A third bet type is an accumulator. An accumulator is a bet where the player selects more than one horse to win.
A stewards’ or patrol judge supervises the running of the race and ensures that all rules are observed. In North America, a steward or patrol judge checks the start of each race with an electronic device called a photo-finish camera, which can determine the exact finishing order to within a one hundredth of a second. After the race, the stewards or patrol judges, with the help of a picture judging crew, examine the finish film and look for rule violations.
A jockey is a person who rides a horse in a race and is paid to do so by the owner of the horse. A jockey is trained to read a horse and knows when to use the whip to motivate the animal to run faster or to slow it down in certain parts of the race. A jockey can also tell when a horse is tired and needs to take a breather. There are many different kinds of horse races, from short sprint races to long marathons. Some of these races are open to the general public while others have rules that limit the number of eligible horses and their owners based on age, sex, birthplace, and previous performance. There are also handicapped races, where a handicapper is assigned to each horse in the field.